professional video game players

Wildace said:
lol your so wrong...

Speed? needed to be a top player in most fps, if your slow you will die. Agility? you need to be able to stop your mouse precisly where you want it too so you wont miss your target and be able to use all the keys on your keyboard effectivly in a "speedy" manor. the older you are the less agility you have hence why you dont see too many "old" people playing Quake 3 or football. in the fast beat world of computer gaming.

Mental toughness / thinking your fricken joking right? thats one of the more important aspects of ANY GAME if you cant think for your self and now jpw to learn fomr your mistakes, or implement good strategies you might as well be a rock.

an example of being good at a game and not just a random player..

in BF:1942 and BF: vietnam i was probly the BEST person to ever get my hands on the anti tank kits i can judge the speed of my rocket And the trajectory also the speed of the target player runing or his vehicle ect. doesnt matter what he was in. along with his direction i have a beutiful instinct of where i needed to shoot to hit a certain target.
which is the main thing i dislike about BF2 hte whole laser guided AT kit helps put my distinct advantage over most other players in long range at shots aside.

heres an example of how accurate i was in those 2 games.

on La drang vally (pretty sue thats the right map name. been awhile sence ive played bfv) i was on the US team about 400-500m from the main US base standing on the edge of an NVA mobile spawn point knifing the people as they spawned (good times :rolleyes: ) then a team mate runs upto it and drops a grenade on me to blow up the hole killing me with it and getting a tk. well in my "rage" cause i hate blatent tks the moment i spawned i saw him running in the hills with the 3d map i judged his speed and distance probly withing 2-3sec. and fired. about 6-10sec. later bam his 3d icon dissapears and i get a tk. he was just speechless at that point.


another example in bfv: im flying a huey and an F4 phantom is flying straight at me getting ready for the kill i bail aim & shoot an RPG and rape the phantom hit E and get back in the huey as the wreckage of the F4 flys over the top of me and i fly away.

not to mention all the times i would fly a huey slick solo switch to the side seats and rape mi8's tanks and infantry with an RPG from the side. and if i have a pilot with im just that much deadlier.

with the skill i have for arching projectiles i bet i could of made a pretty good QB with some practice.

i knlow Click made a movie of me launching rpgs off the side of a huey slick if i can find it ill post it.

the conclusion is yes everyone can play video games but there are people with exceptional skill. that not everyone has
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dude

that speed and that "agility" is learned by any KID that has ever picked up a mouse and a keyboard,

Pleaes don't make it out to be ANYMORE than what it is NOT.

You want speed? Go to a professional Raquetball tournament and tell me how well you think you would be able to keep up with that SPEED. 100+ mph is no joke. As for older people. Please don't be so ignorant. There are plenty of 30+ people still kicking ass in FPS just they have a real job ;)

As for having the mental toughness, nah man. IN the FPS you are not sucking wind and trying to keep you head upfor the next shot, or for the next tactic that you will use to score or to prvent the other person from scoring. IQB requires PHYSICAL FITNESS and dexterity since your shoulder will have to put up throwing a 35 mph rocket into a wide recievers number.. over and over and over.. or a 50 yard throw. sorry dude. You can practice for 10 years and never get it unlike "computer games"
 
Wildace said:
lol your so wrong...

Speed? needed to be a top player in most fps, if your slow you will die. Agility? you need to be able to stop your mouse precisly where you want it too so you wont miss your target and be able to use all the keys on your keyboard effectivly in a "speedy" manor. the older you are the less agility you have hence why you dont see too many "old" people playing Quake 3 or football. in the fast beat world of computer gaming.

Mental toughness / thinking your fricken joking right? thats one of the more important aspects of ANY GAME if you cant think for your self and now jpw to learn fomr your mistakes, or implement good strategies you might as well be a rock.
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There is no speed required in gaming. You dont have to do a 4.3 40 or be an excellent runner to play video games. You can be the slowest person on earth and still kick ass in video games. The only thing required is moving your mouse and using the keyboard. No agility required either except for as said before - mouse and keyboard. With the exception of using the mouse, your whole body does not nothing while gaming.
There is no mental toughness in video games either. In video games, you don't have to push your body to it's limits or play through pain or whatever else.
And I never said there was no mental thinking involved in video games.
 
TheCommander said:
There is no speed required in gaming. You dont have to do a 4.3 40 or be an excellent runner to play video games. You can be the slowest person on earth and still kick ass in video games. The only thing required is moving your mouse and using the keyboard. No agility required either except for as said before - mouse and keyboard. With the exception of using the mouse, your whole body does not nothing while gaming.
There is no mental toughness in video games either. In video games, you don't have to push your body to it's limits or play through pain or whatever else.
And I never said there was no mental thinking involved in video games.
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speed? doesnt mean just how fast you can run lol...


as for that speed and that "agility" is learned by any ANYONE PERIOD!! your not born with inate super agility its something you learn how to do and become better at with practice

There are plenty of 30+ people still kicking ass in FPS just they have a real job.... ugh 30 isnt old maybe if it was the year 1700. 60+ most people that age would be considerd old slow and unable to play video games with the precision required to excel.
 
Its obvious that some of you people have never played under any amount of stress.

Prediction plays a LARGE part in the multiplayer video gaming world. Anyone can learn some stupid bots AI (yes I know these days it is becoming harder, but it can still be learend). But being able to judge what a human opponent is going to do, based on their skill, the map, and what has already happened during that round, is definately something that improves with practice.

This isnt just aimed at the FPS genre either, its an equal part of it in strategy games, if not more-so.

Yes, its true that some people are naturally better than others at video games, but no one can pick up a game for the first time and instantly be better than it than anyone else. Thats why there are people that play at the "professional level".
 
I believe gaming will become a sport the day golf does :p

Blast the gods for letting an overweight 50 year old beat me at a sport! :(
 
RoffleCopter said:
I believe gaming will become a sport the day golf does :p

Blast the gods for letting an overweight 50 year old beat me at a sport! :(
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if poker can get on espn i wouldnt doubt that some time in the next few years you wont see online matches being broadcast on tv. if theres a public to watch it that means someone will make money. so its just a matter of time before it happens
 
figgie said:
umm no

as i play table tennis at a very advanced (1800-1900 level) level. FPS games have no where NEAR the hand eye coordination needed to hit the ball back MUCH less react to the majority of shots. So you THINK it is close but nope. Not even.
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And you would know because you could even touch fatality in a fps? Ssshhh.
 
TheCommander said:
There is no speed required in gaming. You dont have to do a 4.3 40 or be an excellent runner to play video games. You can be the slowest person on earth and still kick ass in video games. The only thing required is moving your mouse and using the keyboard. No agility required either except for as said before - mouse and keyboard. With the exception of using the mouse, your whole body does not nothing while gaming.
There is no mental toughness in video games either. In video games, you don't have to push your body to it's limits or play through pain or whatever else.
And I never said there was no mental thinking involved in video games.
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There is definately mental agility and restraint in competitive gaming. Yes, you are sitting in a chair so the typical athletics doesn't apply. I tend to think of games as testing your mind rather than your body. It doesnt take much thought to run a 4.3 40.

It all depends on how you define an athlete:

"A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts."

Keyword: OR sports. Gamers definately practicing to master a competitive art form. If you don't think gaming is a sport or an artform then that is your perrogative, but if you fail to see that some games can take considerable talent and intelligence to win, you're fooling yourself.
 
Wildace said:
speed? doesnt mean just how fast you can run lol...


as for that speed and that "agility" is learned by any ANYONE PERIOD!! your not born with inate super agility its something you learn how to do and become better at with practice

There are plenty of 30+ people still kicking ass in FPS just they have a real job.... ugh 30 isnt old maybe if it was the year 1700. 60+ most people that age would be considerd old slow and unable to play video games with the precision required to excel.
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It's not how fast a game or sport is. It's how fast a person is physically. And like I said, the omly speed you need in games is mouse/keyboard action.

And how do you know 60+ people couldn't play at a very high level?
 
TheCommander said:
It's not how fast a game or sport is. It's how fast a person is physically. And like I said, the omly speed you need in games is mouse/keyboard action.

And how do you know 60+ people couldn't play at a very high level?
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lol find me some 60 year old people people i dont mind watching them stand there while they look for the "any" key :D
 
Attean said:
There is definately mental agility and restraint in competitive gaming. Yes, you are sitting in a chair so the typical athletics doesn't apply. I tend to think of games as testing your mind rather than your body. It doesnt take much thought to run a 4.3 40.

It all depends on how you define an athlete:

"A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts."

Keyword: OR sports. Gamers definately practicing to master a competitive art form. If you don't think gaming is a sport or an artform then that is your perrogative, but if you fail to see that some games can take considerable talent and intelligence to win, you're fooling yourself.
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Ok where did I say they don't require any skill or intelligence? Because looking back, I never said anything like that.

I see sports as something that require athleticism. Video games do not require athleticism. I can accept that gaming is a competitive art form, but not that gamers are "athletes."
 
I do play RTS games online as well and do know they require thinking and strategy as well as skill to micromanage your units and buildings.
 
TheCommander said:
the omly speed you need in games is mouse/keyboard action.
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You're summarizing games to agility with that statement. You minimilize the amount of thought it takes to arrive at the next move and clearly are thinking of a game like pong. 60 year olds likely would not be able to keep up with a younger opponent simply because people lose IQ and energy as they grow older - it's possible but just saying, in general.

If you want to look at all of our stimuli as a means of interacting with the outside world. A mouse/keyboard is just another way of interacting with the world, just like running through it is. Your brain treats it all the same. And when it comes down to it, it's still something that requires tremendous amounts of practice to win in an extremely competitive environment. I see no reason why extremely skilled gamers shouldn't be called "athletes".

Of course, the term i spretty rediculous when used in conjunction with bad games that require very little skill..for instance halo. (flamebait, sorry couldn't resist) But there are games out there that require a lot of skill by design.
 
Attean said:
You're summarizing games to agility with that statement. You minimilize the amount of thought it takes to arrive at the next move and clearly are thinking of a game like pong. 60 year olds likely would not be able to keep up with a younger opponent simply because people lose IQ and energy as they grow older - it's possible but just saying, in general.

If you want to look at all of our stimuli as a means of interacting with the outside world. A mouse/keyboard is just another way of interacting with the world, just like running through it is. Your brain treats it all the same. And when it comes down to it, it's still something that requires tremendous amounts of practice to win in an extremely competitive environment. I see no reason why extremely skilled gamers shouldn't be called "athletes".

Of course, the term i spretty rediculous when used in conjunction with bad games that require very little skill..for instance halo. (flamebait, sorry couldn't resist) But there are games out there that require a lot of skill by design.
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You can say that for a lot of things - "tremendous amounts of practice." Of course if you want to be the best at something, it requires tremendous amounts of practice. If extremely skilled gamers are "athletes," than so are poker players, chess players, spelling bee players, boardgame players, etc...

And if you want to broaden it more, than everybody in the world is an athlete. When you apply for a specialized job, you are competing against others. Or when you apply to a highly selective school, you are competing against others. And you could argue those don't require training- but in fact they do. School as well as studying were the training or "practice."

Overall, none of the above including video gamers are "athletes."
Athletes are soccer players, football players, basketball players, etc..
Athletes are not video gamers, chess players, boardgame players, etc... - they are competitive gamers.
 
TheCommander said:
You can say that for a lot of things - "tremendous amounts of practice." Of course if you want to be the best at something, it requires tremendous amounts of practice. If extremely skilled gamers are "athletes," than so are poker players, chess players, spelling bee players, boardgame players, etc...

And if you want to broaden it more, than everybody in the world is an athlete. When you apply for a specialized job, you are competing against others. Or when you apply to a highly selective school, you are competing against others. And you could argue those don't require training- but in fact they do. School as well as studying were the training or "practice."

Overall, none of the above including video gamers are "athletes."
Athletes are soccer players, football players, basketball players, etc..
Athletes are not video gamers, chess players, boardgame players, etc...
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Well, no. You forget that when you apply for a specialized job, that is real life. Soccer, Football, and Baseball all share something in common with gaming in that they have artificial constructs designed to challenge and entertain us. So no, not everything can be considered athletics because athletics is the testing grounds for us to safely test our skills for reality. Athletes are merely those that attempt to master those constructs.

(chess players are athletes, so are mathletes and poker players)
 
figgie said:
funny

college list it as a sport not as an athletic competition... so let see.. highschool or college/univerity. Norte Dame/FSU/UoF/USC or tiny high school. I am going with Norte Dame/FSU/UoF/USC defenition thanks.

whole concept that pressing keys and moving a mouse is a "Sport" or athletisism. No sorry. If anyones post is irrelevant and full of IGNORANCE is yours but that is expected as high school is your world. Don't worry once you get into the real world you will understand that highschool is it own little micro-enivironment where the color of jeans and what to wear the next day is the priority of the day.
:)
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I go to UIC...again ignorance.
 
Attean said:
Well, no. You forget that when you apply for a specialized job, that is real life. Soccer, Football, and Baseball all share something in common with gaming in that they have artificial constructs designed to challenge and entertain us. So no, not everything can be considered athletics because athletics is the testing grounds for us to safely test our skills for reality. Athletes are merely those that attempt to master those constructs.

(chess players are athletes, so are mathletes and poker players)
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People make a "real life" out of football, soccer, baseball etc for the rest of their lives. People don't make a "real life" out of gaming for the rest of your lives. Early on they may make a lot of money but not enough to support them for the rest of their lives. Jobs are also constructs that keep us busy and entertain some people as well. You could also say your job is the place to test your skills in reality. And you could also attempt to master your job.

As for whether chess players and video gamers are athletes, thats your opinion. Mine is they aren't.
 
TheCommander said:
People make a "real life" out of football, soccer, baseball etc for the rest of their lives. People don't make a "real life" out of gaming for the rest of your lives. Early on they may make a lot of money but not enough to support them for the rest of their lives. Jobs are also constructs that keep us busy and entertain some people as well. You could also say your job is the place to test your skills in reality. And you could also attempt to master your job.

As for whether chess players and video gamers are athletes, thats you opinion. Mine is they aren't.
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That's such a weak argument. The video game industry isn't 3 decades old and already it appears people are making "jobs" out of it. If youre going to argue don't make things up; how can you possibly know that people couldn't make "real life" out of games. Friend of mine makes 8k a month competing. Fatality makes far more than this. I'm pretty sure fatality is pretty well set for the rest of his life, and by your logic if it takes no skill and he could do it until he was 60 then he's definately good to go. On top of that the stipulation of being able to make "real life" out of an athletic profession isn't even a necessity; it is you who is appending the definition to support your opinion. And attempting to master your job is attempting to master work, it's a necessity that you do that, it's not practice. Games are artificial and yes society can increase the gravitas around certain games as Im sure they did to chess in medieval times but that doesn't make them any less artificial.

It's not an opinion that by the definition of an athlete in the english language pro-gamers could be considered athletes. I consider them intellectual athletes, which breaks from the traditional athletic view, but is an athlete nonetheless and is inline with the definition of an athlete. If you can't understand that, then, it's your "opinion".
 
J-M-E said:
Not really. You cant get good at FPS over time. ITS LIKE A SWITCH MAN, YOU EITHER GOT IT OR YOU DONT. ITS A 1 or a 0!!!11111

Youve obviously never played fps...or just suck at them and think you can get better over time
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Unless you play through Far Cry.
 
Attean said:
That's such a weak argument. The video game industry isn't 3 decades old and already it appears people are making "jobs" out of it. If youre going to argue don't make things up. Friend of mine makes 8k a month competing. Fatality makes far more than this. I'm pretty sure fatality is pretty well set for the rest of his life, and by your logic if it takes no skill and he could do it until he was 60 then he's definately good to go.

It's not an opinion that by the definition of an athlete in the english language pro-gamers could be considered athletes. I consider them intellectual athletes, which breaks from the traditional athletic view, but is an athlete nonetheless and is inline with the definition of an athlete. If you can't understand that, then, it's your "opinion".
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Like I said, you have your opinion and I have mine. And I stand by what I said.
 
Some of you here need to just stfu, and stop argueing, you all will never admit you are wrong in your minds and filling up a thread with obvious nasty flames helps no one. Personally, I think that if some of you were in Fatal1ty's shoes, you would call yourself a fuckin Professional pwnage Athlete, and then ask everyone if they have tried your new gaming system that has your Professional alias on it... yah yah you're just jealous and / or want everyone to think you don't care because its so rebel and anyone better than you is a n00b hax... I'm right aren't I ? :D
 
There has been no flaming so far. Everything is this thread is opinionated anyway. There is no right or wrong.
 
Attean said:
And you would know because you could even touch fatality in a fps? Ssshhh.
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actually yep.

You are aware that he tried and play UT for a while?? Then he met people that where better than him such as when he lost to Satan|BMF, and the after losing stuck his tail behind his him and went back to QIII ;)
 
Attean said:
There is definately mental agility and restraint in competitive gaming. Yes, you are sitting in a chair so the typical athletics doesn't apply. I tend to think of games as testing your mind rather than your body. It doesnt take much thought to run a 4.3 40.

It all depends on how you define an athlete:

"A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts."

Keyword: OR sports. Gamers definately practicing to master a competitive art form. If you don't think gaming is a sport or an artform then that is your perrogative, but if you fail to see that some games can take considerable talent and intelligence to win, you're fooling yourself.
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it don't take much thought but takes physical (read the difference between an athlete and an arm chair quarter back or "gamer") ability and actually being FIT to run a 4.3 40 yard dash. Not any joe schmoe off the street can do it, even with 10 years of training. Just like not everyone can get a bike and go climb the 15.3 km of Alp De Huez in 2 hour much less 32 minutes like Marco Pattini ;) You could train your entire life and not do it. Computer games. I have seen little 10 year old kids get the gist of it and play with everyone on the server. Then practice after school and after 1 month they are playing in ladder matches.

as for games taking talent. Your post truley shows how much you really don't know. Just like counting cards is learned to try and beat the house in vegas. Computer games is no different regardless of what you think. Talent has ZIP to do with winning in the virtual world. Otherwise i don't think Fatal1ty would have burned 3 years at 8-10 hours a day of playing if he actually had talent ;)

gaming is not a sport and will never be one. It might be a competition but that as far as that goes regardless of what you and the countless other folks from yesteryear thought about "pro-gaming"
 
ekorazn said:
I go to UIC...again ignorance.
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intresting

so then you remember what your highschool called football? riight.

Hey look at me, I am YAIL gradyouate !! weeeee :rolleyes:
 
figgie said:
intresting

so then you remember what your highschool called football? riight.

Hey look at me, I am YAIL!!! weeeee :rolleyes:
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some of us happen to have better memory.

figgie, we've obviously got off topic, i say truce to our differences :).
 
ekorazn said:
some of us happen to have better memory.

figgie, we've obviously got off topic, i say truce to our differences :).
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i'm sorry that i can't remember what happened in college nearly 13 years ago much less high school. I actually need to use my brain power to think of today and the issues at hand :)
 
J-M-E said:
No fatal1ty is just some professional douchebag who got famous playing Doom 3 online, possibly the worst game ever made. Hope that answers your question :)
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If by Doom 3 you mean Quake 3, Unreal Tournament 2003, Alien vs Predator 2, Painkiller, and Doom 3 then yes. Also, if by online you mean by internation LANs, then you're right again.
 
figgie said:
umm no

as i play table tennis at a very advanced (1800-1900 level) level. FPS games have no where NEAR the hand eye coordination needed to hit the ball back MUCH less react to the majority of shots. So you THINK it is close but nope. Not even.
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Umm yes... there is no limit to the HEQ required for some of these FPS's on a fast system.


http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Computer_Games_-_Hand-Eye_Coordination

Some of these games on AVERAGE require more HEQ than most if not all sports out there, couple that with the speed of some of these TOP players, you are talking unbelievable HEQ being used. You have to remember, Guys like Fatal1ty are playing 10 fold faster than you average skilled player. Real physics has limitations, muscle to Gravity has limitations.. the physics engine in a computer, givin enough CPU/GPU power does not have limitations.

As well, most sports require a medium between physical ability, manual dexterity, and HEQ, they are divided because you cannot simply go beyond your abilities or the laws of physics. Video games have the unique environment where you really need very little no physical ability, minimal manual dexterity, aside from pure HEQ skill.

heq TESTS are done on computer programs, these video games are far outpacing the scale in which these tests are performed. So in a nutshell yes we fucking know the guy probably couldn't run 5 miles if his life depended on it, but these guys sure as hell have incredible HEQ for these specific applications. Also being an incredible FPS player doesnt mean he has great HEQ to bat in baseball, research shows that video games can actually hurt HEQ for other tasks.

PS: anyone can be a PRO as certain games and then move to a different physics engine and become owned. Q3 based games have a completely different physics engine than BF1942, HL 1&2, doom3, or even other games based of varations of the Q3 engine.
 
figgie said:
it don't take much thought but takes physical (read the difference between an athlete and an arm chair quarter back or "gamer") ability and actually being FIT to run a 4.3 40 yard dash. Not any joe schmoe off the street can do it, even with 10 years of training. Just like not everyone can get a bike and go climb the 15.3 km of Alp De Huez in 2 hour much less 32 minutes like Marco Pattini ;) You could train your entire life and not do it. Computer games. I have seen little 10 year old kids get the gist of it and play with everyone on the server. Then practice after school and after 1 month they are playing in ladder matches.

as for games taking talent. Your post truley shows how much you really don't know. Just like counting cards is learned to try and beat the house in vegas. Computer games is no different regardless of what you think. Talent has ZIP to do with winning in the virtual world. Otherwise i don't think Fatal1ty would have burned 3 years at 8-10 hours a day of playing if he actually had talent ;)

gaming is not a sport and will never be one. It might be a competition but that as far as that goes regardless of what you and the countless other folks from yesteryear thought about "pro-gaming"
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Gaming does already take talent. Not everyone can keep the amount of variables in their head it takes to be the best at strategy games or even to a certain extent team based FPS. That's not just a skillset. That's intelligence. It's not a physical talent

And gaming already is a sport. Your post "truley" shows you lack the ability to think laterally.
 
figgie said:
actually yep.

You are aware that he tried and play UT for a while?? Then he met people that where better than him such as when he lost to Satan|BMF, and the after losing stuck his tail behind his him and went back to QIII ;)
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Heh. I saw him play UT at wcg. Something tells me you can't beat him at that either even if Satan got him...
 
PLease take the time to read all of this and think about it before jumping to conclusions and posting halfway through.

After reading all of these posts, and trying to see both sides of the debate. I still fail to see how gamers can be considered athletes. an athlete is somebody who trains mentally and physically to endure a challenge, ie the game, competition, whatever. Gamers are born with the physical abilities to compete. You don't need to train to move your arm and wrist, fingers... You do however have to develop those already learned skills and hone them. But this isn't even close to the training that athletes endure. gamers aren't pushing themselves to their bodies physical limits, which is what an athlete does on a constant basis.

It does require great skill to become a top player in any game, it also requires a lot of practice, there is always more to learn, new players to face, everybody that plays the game will do so differently and react differently. But this is all mental. the physical aspect of it all is what myself and others are taking issue with. As a former athlete, division 1A college football, it is very trivializing to me to have people call themselves athletes when they aren't putting in the same kind of effort.

Here is an example of what I'm getting at. In football for example there are drills of all kinds to hone a specific skill, or part of a skill. to train yourself to react in a certain way mentally and physically. These drills are needed because at full game speed and in a game there is no way to break them down individually. for instance the tackling dummies, you don't just run up to them, hit them and walk away, you train on how to set every part of your body to be the most effective, you train how to react to be most effective, and how to mentally adjust how to be the most effective. Here is my issue with gamers being called athletes, If a gamer was an athlete they would take hours of their time to break down the game into parts and practice each part. you don't see gamers using programs to develop their finger clicking speed, and do this for hours, nor do you see them using programs to train their agility. This is all done in game, by playing the game. there are no practices, no drills just the game. you can argue that the single player versions are these drills, but it's still playing the game. The same thing would be for a football team to only scrimage, and by only scrimaging get better. It won't work that way. Now do I think gamers can move up to that level, yes. But until they start spending time out of playing the actual game to hone their skills, it's only a game. you can also argue that a human can only preform the needed activities while gaming so fast. And that is probably the largest hangup. Until there is that seperation they aren't athletes.

I do like the analogy to calling work professionals athletes if we call gamers athletes, because they do compete with a specific set of skills the same was a gamer does. I'm a jeweler by profession and the same skills relate to gaming, HEQ, and agility, but that doesn't make a jeweler an athlete, and yes my store enters jewelry competitions, and has been quite successful on the state and national levels. Still doesn't make me a jewelry athlete.

Now as to if a gamer can be a proffesional, absolutly, all that means is that you make a living (getting paid in money or other compensation) by doing that activity, and many people do.

On a side note I will say that nascar drivers are athletes, most of the top level guys not only analyze everything they do, and practice outside of the tracks for reaction times, and studying what to do in what circumstances, they also have to be in top physical shape. I remember an article in sports illustrated that followed some drivers through their workouts, they included weight training and running, one guys runs 6 timed miles every morning. because of the environment they are in, it requires the mental focus, you try driving 4 hours on the ass of another car and not wear down, and the physical ability to control the car, power steering pumps go out, tires blow out and jerk the wheel, etc... It's a very demanding sport beyond what most people take the time to learn about. What seperates racers and gamers in my opinion is the work off the track and the physical ability needed to perform.
 
If people at eating competitions are considered athletes, then why not gamers? Those eating competitions are serious business, and those guys train to eat believe it or not. They have methods and techniques which they use to gorge more food that their body can allow, it's really amazing. I used to be ignorant about it, until I went to Coney Island and saw how serious the stuff was. Let me just say, no matter how much you think you can eat, you can't do it on their level. Not all of them are fat slobs either.

ESPN airs things from poker, to bass fishing, bowling and even spelling bee competitions. It's all subjective really, it all boils down to your opinion. But are they professional? Yes. A professional is someone who earns money for their craft, so by definition they are. Athletes? Well, it depends on whom you ask.
 
figgie said:
funny

college list it as a sport not as an athletic competition... so let see.. highschool or college/univerity. Norte Dame/FSU/UoF/USC or tiny high school. I am going with Norte Dame/FSU/UoF/USC defenition thanks.

whole concept that pressing keys and moving a mouse is a "Sport" or athletisism. No sorry. If anyones post is irrelevant and full of IGNORANCE is yours but that is expected as high school is your world. Don't worry once you get into the real world you will understand that highschool is it own little micro-enivironment where the color of jeans and what to wear the next day is the priority of the day.
:)
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I find it highly suspect that somebody who cant put together a coherent sentence, or spell the word DEFINITION correctly, has the mental ability to read and understand a higher institute of learning's listing of their different sports/athletic activities.
 
figgie said:
You are aware that he tried and play UT for a while?? Then he met people that where better than him such as when he lost to Satan|BMF, and the after losing stuck his tail behind his him and went back to QIII ;)
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Uhh...he won CPL 2003 for UT...
 
"Professional gamer" is an accurate title. Professional just means that what you do, you do for a living. I'm an IT professional, as opposed to an enthusiast who might be just as good as me but works as an accountant.

The term I think is absurd is "cyberathlete" or anything that attempts to classify or relate gaming to sports. Sorry, guys, but a sport requires physical exertion. Button-pushing doesn't qualify.
 
Big Worm said:
So in a nutshell yes we fucking know the guy probably couldn't run 5 miles if his life depended on it,
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Actually Fatal1ty does Run 3-5 miles on a daily basis ;) So he can probably do a 10k'r without issues. Now for the other I don't know but Fatal1ty can probably live through a marathon without a fatal heart attack.
 
Attean said:
Heh. I saw him play UT at wcg. Something tells me you can't beat him at that either even if Satan got him...
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yawn

go speculate and spout the rhetoric elsewhere. ;)
 
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